Watch Out! Avoiding Sneaky Plot Holes

When judging a story’s quality, one of the first questions we might measure against is “Are there any plot holes?”

Plot holes can cause a loud *record scratch* “Wait, what?” reaction in readers, pulling them out of a story, sometimes irreparably, as they protest the impossible or unsuccessfully try to get the illogical to make sense. Like typos and grammar issues, plot holes are easy to point to as evidence of poor writing in a review or a warning to stay away.

Obviously, we want to do everything we can to avoid plot holes in our story—but some types of plot holes can be sneaky.

What Are Plot Holes?

“In fiction, a plot hole…is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story’s plot. Such inconsistencies include such things as illogical or impossible events, and statements or events that contradict earlier events in the storyline.”

However, the Oxford English Dictionary gives a much broader definition than just those plot and event issues (emphasis added):

“An inconsistency in the narrative or character development of a book, film, television programme, etc.”

Understandably—given the name—when we think of plot holes, we think of inconsistent or illogical plot events, but the same “record scratch” reaction applies to inconsistencies and impossibilities when it comes to characters or other story elements as well. So we should broaden our thinking when it comes to finding (and fixing) plot holes.

In fact, those non-plot-style holes can be extra tricky to identify simply because they’re not what we think of when searching for plot holes. Yet they’re just as important to watch out for and resolve.

Sources of Plot Holes

Whether we’re looking for plot holes in our own stories or we’re helping edit our friends’ work, we’ll have better luck if we know the different sources of plot holes that can lurk in our stories:

Plot Holes: Inconsistencies in the plot and/or plot events. For example, in one scene, a group of characters might split up, and in the next scene, a character who was with the first group suddenly participates in the second group’s conversation in a different setting.
Plot problems can be:

related to time and place—who’s doing what when

illogical or lacking story-plot flow—events or character actions have no reason for happening, or they couldn’t happen due to other events

gaps—questions are left conveniently unanswered (“Wait, how did they escape?”)

Character Development Holes: Inconsistencies in characters and/or their development. For example, a character who’s deathly afraid of snakes is suddenly fine with handling one—and there’s no explanation for the change of attitude.
Character problems can be:

puppet-like behavior—characters’ actions are too convenient, lack motivation, or make sense only from the perspective of plot requirements

broken arc—characters’ goals, stakes, or motivations are forgotten, ignored, or change with no explanation

World-building Holes: Inconsistencies in the world we’ve build for our story. These can be shallow—such as how many bullets our hero’s weapon can hold versus how many they’ve shot—or they can be deep—such as understanding why something in our story world works the way it does.

World-building holes might not be something we’ve thought of before, and they’re often the trickiest to find and fix if we’re not aware of the possibility.

What Are World-building Plot Holes?

Every story contains world-building, not just sci-fi and fantasy tales. Even stories set in the “real” world have to build their specific setting, from a New York City neighborhood to a ranch in Australia’s Outback.

No matter the type of story, we also have to be consistent with our characters’ names and physical descriptions. Their hair or eye color shouldn’t change…unless that ability is part of our world-building. (I do write paranormal romance, after all. *grin*)

Sources of World-building Holes include:

Explanations of why something is important or can’t be done

Inconsistencies in characters’ backstories (and in how it affects the plot and/or story)

When we check for plot holes, we need to question more than just the plot details. Whether we revise by building a plot/subplot outline and character/worldbuilding story bible or by relying on the help of beta readers/developmental editors, we want to broaden our scope of where we’re checking for inconsistencies and logic issues so we can find them all—even the sneaky ones.

Do you have any questions about plot holes—or the different places they lurk?

11 Responses to Watch Out! Avoiding Sneaky Plot Holes

Sometimes, you can fix things by moving a chapter, (Really!) or splitting one up or adding a new one in between two causing
problems.

Ugg. The biggest one I’m trying to fix serms simple enough to fix, the main piv is (oops) in two places at once, so after going insane I finally cane up with changing to a different pov characte, an antoganist. Now I have to fill out that character more and go to eailer chapters and fiddle with things. All this caused by fixing the broken plot. Headache!

If anyone wants to share more plothole articles I’d appreciate it!

I have notes on top if notes all scrambled in my emails and phone. I think this character planner (really it’s a story planner) is helping. I’ll do anything to fix the dang plot hole!

such a great article!!! and the very reason i write linear – i cannot write scenes out of order (i hear tell of some who do and it utterly befuddles my brain!) i write, as one reviewer says it, in “concentric circles of plot twists” so you can imagine the notes i have to keep track of details – so i avoid those dastardly plot holes!!
thanks for your great post!

I hear you. 🙂 I write linearly as well, and like you, I find that helps me keep all the story threads straight (and usually not dropped). Writing out of order would mean a lot more rewriting than usual for me. Good luck with your writing, and I’m glad I could help!

This is insightful, Jami. Thanks so much for sharing this with the followers of Writers Helping Writers. I’ve marked this one to use when I finish my next draft of my memoir about attending college as a mother of five.

I’ve connected with you online and have shared this post on social media. All the best to you!

Love this, Jami! The subplot holes are the ones that always trip me up. My subplots tend to either meander wildly before finally getting to the destination, or they dwindle away into nothingness. To avoid this in the future, I’m going to try using the theme to connect them and keep them on track, as was suggested in a recent post.